Accidental Playboy: Caught in the Ultimate Male Fantasy

Accidental Playboy is the hilarious, erotic, and provocative memoir of a sensitive post-modern man who stumbles into the dream job of a lifetime. When Playboy magazine tapped Leif Ueland to report on its nationwide search for the Playmate of the Millennium, he was the ultimate confused American male. A self-professed nice guy, he was the last man to be on Playboy's roving audition bus, never mind its official reporter. And yet, something deep within his psyche leapt at the opportunity.

One of the worst books I've downloaded. I didn't even finish listening. It's boring, boring, boring. After Chapter 3 each scene is merely a repeat of the one before. I didn't find it humorous, I found it repeative. I recommend you pass. There is far too many GOOD books like "All He Ever Wanted" and "The Fountainhead"/

The Confession: A Novel

An innocent man is about to be executed. Only a guilty man can save him. Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high-school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

I enjoyed both the reader and the story in Grishom's novel The Confession. As an opponent of the death penalty, Grishom blames the wrong element - the penalty prescribed for heinous crimes. Certainly Grishom's novel makes one rethink their own position in regards to the death penalty.

In the end, using only Grishom's story as the argument, it is not the penalty that fails but rather the system. Regardless of the penalty, the system allows wrongful convictions especially when prosecutors, investigators and judges worry more about win records, play judge and jury themselves and use trickery to convict.

With no death penalty, these wrongfully convicted persons merely languish hidden away in prison. Grishom's character found his treatment in prison unbearable. With no death penalty bring forth an eventual time table, even less would be done to exonerate those wrongfully convicted.

Brother Fish

From the author of The Power of One comes an inspiring human drama of three lives brought together and changed forever by the extraordinary events of recent history. Inspired by real events, Bryce Courtenay's new novel tells the story of three people from vastly differing backgrounds. All they have in common is a tough beginning in life.

Started this book once and just couldn't get into it. While I love Australian accents, one recounting military actions just didn't work for me. I think it's a pretty slow start, but about 1.5 to 2 hours in, it really becomes story rich.

We follow Jacko and Jimmy into two wars, the first with little action, the second with more action than they wanted. They become POWs and even attempt an escape.

Finally Jacko and Jimmy make it back to Australia and meet up with a former friend of Jackos. They all go into the fishing business, with some very intriguing stories both out fishing and from former experiences.

Darkside

When a midshipman plunges six stories to his death, the U.S. Naval Academy begins investigating an apparent suicide. But there's a bizarre twist: the young man's body is found wearing undergarments belonging to Midshipman Julie Markham, a senior at the academy.

Another great novel. Well read and well written though a bit strange in some places. Mystery and intrigue - but not the ending you expected. Listened to most of this riding my bike on the Katy trail and thoroughly enjoyed the pace and characters.

The Devil in the Junior League

Mercedes Hildebrand Ware is a member beyond reproach...until her life begins to unravel. When her husband betrays her, steals her money, and runs off to places unknown, it's something Frede would prefer to keep under wraps. The last thing she needs is to become fodder for the JLWC gossip mill. And to make matters worse, there's only one person in town who stands a chance at helping her get revenge - Howard Grout, a tasteless, gold-chain-wearing lawyer who has bought his way into Frede's tony neighborhood.

The Devil in the Junior League is a laugh out loud, funny book. Well written, great character descriptions and great realism of those that are simply stuck up for little reason. Yes, there's a lot of unrealistic actions, but they only add to the humor.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: The Millennium Trilogy, Book 3

Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority.

First listen to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This book picks up where that one leaves off. Most of the same main characters with a intermixing of new characters. A bit of mundane politics thrown in to explain the weird and intriguing behaviors of numerous characters. Much of the book is exciting and intriguing though I enjoyed the rapid action of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo more.

The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots

Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the invalid young King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third marriage to the dashing, commanding Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.

The book is mostly written from Mary's point of view. It shows the both the sides of privilege and the inborn beliefs in responsibilities. I found it an extremely interesting listen, well written and well narrated.

All the King's Men

The fictionalized account of Louisiana's colorful and notorious governor, Huey Pierce Long, All the King's Men follows the startling rise and fall of Willie Stark, a country lawyer in the Deep South of the 1930s. Beset by political enemies, Stark seeks aid from his right-hand man Jack Burden, who will bear witness to the cataclysmic unfolding of this very American tragedy.

I can't believe people give this such a high review. Yes, the language is beautiful but about 80% of it is totally off the story line. It's like you have to hunt the story amongst the words. There are many wonderful books out there with fantastic prose and I just can't slog my way through this one.

Another Country

Set in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France, Another Country tells the story of the suicide of jazz-musician Rufus Scott and the friends who search for an understanding of his life and death, discovering uncomfortable truths about themselves along the way. Another Country is a work that is as powerful today as it was 40 years ago - and expertly narrated by Dion Graham.

I tried hard to get into the book because I don't like to waste my money, but after 3 hours I came to the conclusion that the money I spent for the book was far less than the cost of a full blown depression which might result from listening.

It's disjointed and depressing. The characters' actions make little sense. Here's a man at the top of his game who acts willy nilly and can't understand when his actions throw him in the gutter.

Best advice is to skip it. If you don't, have a therapist on stand-by.

Ford County: Stories

John Grisham returns to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his immensely popular first novel, A Time to Kill. This wholly surprising collection of stories reminds us once again why Grisham is America's favorite storyteller.

Like some other reviewers, I felt cheated. I felt like I was hearing some good story ideas Grisham developed over time, but they somehow petered out and so he never wrote the book. The stories themselves leave you wanting to ask questions or have more development of the characters.

I also strongly suggest that Grisham stick to writing the stories and pay his normally great readers. Grisham's voice is fine, it's just the weird pausing that he uses which is distracting and detracting.

The Charm School

Something very strange -- and sinister -- is going on in the Russian woods at Borodino. In a place called Mrs. Ivanova's Charm School, young KGB agents are being taught by American POW's how to be model citizens of the USA. The Soviet goal -- to infiltrate the United States undetected. When an unsuspecting American tourist stumbles upon this secret, he sets in motion a CIA investigation that will reveal horrifying police state savagery and superpower treachery.

The Charm School is a bit above the usual spy thriller. The longer you listen the better it gets;. Set in Moscow, two embassy employees find out about a secret Russian operation which uses captured Americans to clone themselves into Russian operatives. Well developed and intriguing.

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